TASHKENT (TCA) — Uzbekistan’s leather and footwear industry plans to produce output worth $1.68 billion in the next four years, which would rank the country among the CIS leaders in the production of footwear and leather goods, the Jahon information agency reported.
Uzbekistan also plans to export footwear and leather products to neighboring countries, as well as expand exports to Russia, Turkey and China, and explore new markets, including in the European Union.
New challenges for the industry have been identified by the recently approved ‘Program of measures for the further development of the leather and footwear industry until 2020’. The program provides for construction of new facilities for manufacturing promising export-oriented goods. This, however, requires foreign investments and technologies. Currently, the Uzbek side is looking into options to deepen relations with companies from Russia, China and Turkey, who have a solid experience in this field.
The industry is also working on projects with several European business partners, including from Italy, France and Spain.
In the next four years, it is planned to produce a total of 29.1 million pairs of shoes, 2.99 billion square decimeters of leather, and various leather goods for $35.6 million.
To date, the Uzbek side has already developed several investment projects with the involvement of local and foreign investors. For example, it is planned to implement 59 projects totaling $76.5 million by 2020. Thirty seven of them will be focused on the establishment of new production capacities (about $60 million), and the remaining 22 projects will modernize and reconstruct existing facilities (over $16 million).
